How We Found Our Dream Home In Less Than 6 Months

For years, I’ve been trying to convince my husband that owning a home is a lot better than renting one. The headaches of dealing with someone else’s property and having to repair something time after time isn’t worth it.

Owning a home will give you a piece of mind. After all, each time you invest in the home you’ve purchased, you’re putting money back into your pocket. Whatever you fix or renovate gives your home more value. Not someone else’s.

Making A Promise And Keeping ItKnowing what we were willing to pay each month on a mortgage was key to finding a home. Based on the area we were considering as our forever home, we did our best to stay within our budget while searching the Realtor app. We didn’t plan on finding a home that hit the top of our budget, but we knew that for the amount of house we wanted and needed for our family, we were willing to pay the price.

If you’re hoping to purchase a home in less than six months like we did, then I recommend looking into getting pre-approved as soon as possible. Save yourself the headaches and stick to Quicken Loans. They will work with you on the phone and all you have to do is scan and send everything.

As for finding the right realtor to do the job, I highly recommend ours in South Florida: Victoria Perez. She’s a natural hustler who knows what it takes to get you from searching to owning the home of your dreams.

We also had another realtor helping us whenever we had questions about the approval process and what to expect along the way. Jeff’s mom, Gloria Petingi, is a realtor in North Jersey and she knows the ins and outs as well. She has been in the real estate industry for a number of years.

It was a pleasure being able to have these two women help us along the way.

More Than Just A TeamAside from having the right people on your side, you need to have the right mentality. Each step of the way, we were faced with challenges. They were almost like rocks on what I swore was going to be a smooth transition. Anything that requires a credit score check more than once is going to be a headache. Banks dig deep into your purchasing habits and everything comes up. A student loan my husband thought he had already paid off come up and we needed to dish out more than a thousand dollars — and that wasn’t the only thing that they found. Minor things that didn’t seem like an issue are a big deal to the banks because they want to make sure you’re the right applicant for their loan — especially an FHA loan.

If you’re thinking of transitioning from renting to owning a home, then I strongly suggest not only saving up for a down payment, but also for anything that might pop up along the way. If you’re considered about your credit, give yourself at least four to six months of paying your bills on time and paying off your debt — more so your credit cards and anything else that might impact your credit score. Some people might suggest waiting a year. Whatever the waiting period might be, it’s worth it for the overall goal of owning a home.

Quick tips to keep in mind when searching for a home: – Stick to Realtor.com/ the Realtor app.
They update their status often and you’ll know whether or not a home is still available.– Research different areas.
You want to make sure the value of your home will go up in time, not down. Good schools are always a plus!– Make sure you research the home you’re interested in.
You want to make sure your purchase is worth every penny, and not that it’ll be costing you every penny. Look into the utilities in that area, and the amount you’ll be paying each month.– Check for new listings daily and always keep an eye on possible homes.Even if it’s at the top of your budget, keep them on your favorite list because the price could go down.

I totally agree that owning a home is better than continuously renting one in the long run! It’s great that you found your dream home in less than a year! A company I will have to keep in mind when we go house hunting! Thanks for the great tip!

Congratulations on finding your dream home! I agree, owning is so much better than renting, not to mention it is much more financially beneficial. Getting pre-approved is such a great idea, it will make finding and buying your dream home so much easier.

Congratulations on your new home and all the tax benefits that come with home ownership.
I’m also pleased that you had a positive experience with an agent as this business is service driven as when one is applauded, it gives our industry a big up.
I wish you and your family many years of happy memories in your new home.

I did not know that banks had access to so much information like purchase history and such. It seems like you went through a difficult process but made it pretty easy with the right people and businesses.

Owning is definitely better than renting. We have paid off our house two years ago and it was so “liberating!” I will have to pass on this article to my daughter. She and her husband are currently in the market tor their first home.

These are all great tips for prospective home owners. I think buying a house should not be done on impulse. There are lots of research to be done. After all, buying a home means you will be indebted for a long time. So be patient, research, ask help/adivce and deal only with professional real estate agents.

You guys are lucky! We found our, well, not really, our dream house, but we both really loved it. Our offer was accepted and we were all packed and ready to moved. But the sale fell through a week before we were scheduled to move 🙁 That’s all in the past now. We’ve moved on now and found another one 🙂

That’s amazing and it’s so nice that you got your dream home. It’s important to work with people that are all about making sure you get the home that you’ve been looking for. This was such a good experience.

Congrats on your new house! We bought our dream house in less than 6 months too and we moved in quite fast. Agree with your pointers – it definitely help us in choosing the right house to be our dream home.

Congrats on your new dream home. These are all awesome tips to do before buying your dream home. It is so important to do research on the homes you are looking at as well as the areas. Thanks for sharing the tips.

It’s really great to find your dream home. Before, when I was a kid, I really think what kind of house would be my dream. And now I’m still thinking what home would be perfect for my family. Lol. By the way, congrats to your new home.

Congrats on finding your dream home! I agree that getting pre-approved helps a lot, as does being realistic about what you can afford to pay. You don’t want to be stretching your paycheck just to pay your mortgage.

Congratulations on finding your dream home! My husband and I are also planning on buying our own home next year. So far we have seen many different options and we are just discussing how much we are willing to shell out per month. It is a big decision but certainly one that is worth making. 🙂